The Alyona Show: Moscow or Bust

Published time: 8 Jul, 2010 17:00 Edited time: 9 Jul, 2010 18:25

All 10 Russian spy suspects held in the United States have pleaded guilty in court and will be deported to Russia, which in turn will release four prisoners to the US. Sources say that Igor Sutyagin, one of those held in Russia who will allegedly be swapped, has now been taken to Vienna. RT Correspondent Marina Portnaya joins Alyona with the details on when the spy swap will happen.

Then, Octavia Nasr, a senior Middle East news editor for CNN was fired yesterday for a personal tweet after working for the company for 20 years. In the tweet, Nasr expressed sadness for the passing of Sayyed Mohammad Hussein Fadlallah, one of Shiite Islam's highest and most revered religious authorities, who is also revered by Hezbollah. Alyona talks to Jamie McIntyre, former CNN Senior Pentagon Correspondent and asks, is this just another example of recent firings in the mainstream media? Is there a double standard where certain opinions, outrageous as they may be, are accepted, and yet anything straying from the accepted arena of objectivity is called treason?

Later, some politicians, like Michael Bennet, are depicting themselves as the common man. But Bennet's everyman ad doesn’t tell the public that he grew up in Washington, the son of a diplomat, attended Yale Law School and was a successful investment banker. Alyona asks, why would a man who seems perfectly suited to be a politician not mention any of those credentials? Would Americans still accept them? Radio Host Thom Hartmann discuss why politicians are dumbing down for voters.

And, Alyona talks to Colonel Lawrence B. Wilkerson, former chief of staff to Colin Powell. The last time Wilkerson was on The Alyona Show, the Rolling Stone story on General Stanley McChrystal was just released, and Colonel Wilkerson didn't think it would lead to McChrystal losing his job. Alyona now wants to know about the relationship between politicians, civilian leadership, generals, and military upper class, are they at war with each other? Is there something brewing? Or has it always been that way?

Finally , the Department of Justice announced they would challenge the legality of Arizona’s immigration law. But as much of a debate there is over illegal immigration, when it comes to the legality even lawyers can’t agree on whether it's just or not. Alyona is joined by two lawyers with opposing views, Jordan Sekulow from the American Center for Law and Justice and, from our New York Studio, Michael Wildes, immigration attorney and former federal prosecutor.